Biotech Updates

Scientists Find Genes to Tackle Climate Change in Australian Wild Rice

December 21, 2011

Professor Robert Henry from the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) and his research team have discovered that wild relatives of rice in Australia contain genes that could be used in developing drought resistant rice.

The study was conducted in 238 km of remote landscape in QAAFI and Southern Cross University, and researchers compared the variabilities of the wild rice found with the ones in the Fertile Crescent, believed to be the cradle of civilization. The study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences also showed that wild rice plants in hotter and drier parts of Australia tend to be more genetically diverse.

"This finding will be useful in selecting crop varieties that can cope with a variable and changing climate," Henry said.

The original news can be viewed at http://www.uq.edu.au/news/?article=24218